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cbabe

cbabe's Journal
cbabe's Journal
February 11, 2026

South End Life: Cousins Show How Horses Are Key to Black History and Community

https://southseattleemerald.org/news/2026/02/09/south-end-life-cousins-show-how-horses-are-key-to-black-history-and-community

South End Life: Cousins Show How Horses Are Key to Black History and Community

Yuko Kodama
Published on:
Feb 09, 2026, 9:00

Lenard Howze Jr. says he grew up with what he called a "peculiar" lifestyle in the Seattle area. His father, Lenard Howze Sr., had a horse-and-carriage service along the waterfront beginning in the 1980s. The business morphed into offering equestrian programs and horse-related events for carnivals, birthday parties, and festivals, such as Juneteenth and Umoja Fest.

Howze, who grew up in Skyway and went to South Shore Middle School and Garfield High School, described a typical morning on the day of an event. "I'd hop on my 10-speed [bike] and head down the street to catch the horses, ride them back bareback to the house in Skyway, tie them up in the yard, and I would begin grooming and getting them prepared for the event," Howze said. "I'd take the keys to my dad's truck, back it up in the yard, and hook up the horse trailer. Mind you, I'm 9 or 10 years old."

Today, the younger Howze is the executive director of Buffalo Soldiers of Seattle (BSS). They attend some South End festivals on horseback, dressed in period U.S. military regalia. The elder Howze founded the organization with a group of local Black men in the early 1990s. The program was created to share their passion for Black history, horsemanship, and outdoors skills.

Geordan Newbill, BSS program director and cousin of the younger Howze, says he would watch his own father and uncle Lenard Sr. in parades dressed in Buffalo Soldier regalia as he was growing up, and he couldn't wait to join in.

Today, the organization arranges hikes and teaches archery. Participants gather kindling and learn to chop wood to build a fire. They cook fish in the fire's coals and camp in a tent. They also learn about grooming horses, equine therapy, and riding skills.

… more …


February 11, 2026

Case dismissed against LA protester accused of assaulting federal officer with cloth hat

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/10/los-angeles-protester-jonathon-redondo-rosales

Case dismissed against LA protester accused of assaulting federal officer with cloth hat

Judge says US government acted in ‘bad faith’ in case of Jonathon Redondo-Rosales, 36, who spent six months in jail

Sam Levin in Los Angeles
Tue 10 Feb 2026 21.32 EST

A federal judge has dismissed charges against a Los Angeles protester who was accused of assaulting an officer with a cloth hat, with an order saying the government acted in “bad faith”. The man had spent six months in jail awaiting trial.

Jonathon Redondo-Rosales, a 36-year-old TikTok content creator and US citizen, had been in custody since his arrest at a 2 August protest against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

In her dismissal on Monday, the US judge Cynthia Valenzuela issued a strong rebuke of the US government’s handling of the case, noting discrepancies in the government’s account of events and that Redondo-Rosales had documented injuries he himself endured during the incident.

The case is one of many pursued by the Department of Justice against people accused of assaulting federal immigration officers that have fallen apart in courts across the US.

… more … lying ice forgets there are cameras …

(Hat guy. Sandwich guy… )
February 10, 2026

Super Bowl Ad for Ring Cameras Touted AI Surveillance Network

https://truthout.org/articles/super-bowl-ad-for-ring-cameras-touted-ai-surveillance-network/

Super Bowl Ad for Ring Cameras Touted AI Surveillance Network

Ring’s AI-powered network is likely to be used in its partnerships with law enforcement and agencies like ICE.

By Sharon Zhang , TRUTHOUT
Published February 9, 2026

However, the attempt at telling a heartwarming story of reuniting dogs with their owners masks Ring’s true intentions of creating a nationwide surveillance system, analysts noted.

“It starts with searching for a ‘brown dog’ but means the tech is there for license plate reading, face recognition, searching for suspects by description, etc,” wrote surveillance and policing expert and scholar Matthew Guariglia on social media. “We already know they have a form cops can fill out to get access to footage without warrant or permission in an ‘emergency’ as determined by them. What will this mean for new features?”

Guariglia noted that Ring would likely make the AI-powered features on by default, requiring users to manually search their settings to turn it off.

Indeed, Ring has come under intense scrutiny for its collaboration with the criminal legal system, especially through its partnerships directly with police and with surveillance companies Flock and Axon, which grant law enforcement access to an enormous amount of information, including tracking of individuals, license plate recognition, and more.

Flock’s dragnet has been used by federal immigration agents to track immigrants and search for a person who received an abortion. It has also helped corporations make watch lists, following in the history of corporate blacklists of labor and social movement organizers.

… more …

Searching for brown ‘dogs’ … uh huh.)
February 10, 2026

Judge 'bewildered' as ICE reveals detention areas hidden from the court

https://www.rawstory.com/ice-court-2675241463/

Judge 'bewildered' as ICE reveals detention areas hidden from the court

Matthew Chapman
February 9, 2026 9:03PM ET

A federal judge was blindsided on Monday upon learning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been storing detainees on floors of a Manhattan facility that it hadn't disclosed to the court prior.

According to Courthouse News, "U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan slammed ICE for 'stalling' the production of discovery related to how immigrants are treated at 26 Federal Plaza, a short-term ICE jail in downtown Manhattan that has been subjected to claims of overcrowding, unsanitary living conditions and violations of detainees’ civil rights."

In particular, per the report, ICE has already been under an order to limit the number of detainees stored on the infamous 10th floor of the facility, so to get around that, they started storing people on the ninth floor as well.

"The makeshift jail is just two floors below immigration courtrooms, where many of the detainees were abruptly detained by ICE following routine court appearances," said the report. "Despite claims from the Department of Homeland Security that the facility is merely a short-term processing center, many noncitizens claimed in court filings that they were held for days at a time and lacked access to clean clothes, edible food and calls with their attorneys."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Oestericher "tried to clear things up for the bewildered judge. He explained that, since Kaplan ordered that no more than 22 inmates may be detained in the building’s 10th-floor jail at a time, ICE has started using holding cells on the ninth floor as they wait for space to open up on the 10th," said the report. When Kaplan then asked, “Are there toilet facilities in each room?” Oestericher conceded he didn't know.

… more …

(‘Storing’ people.)
February 9, 2026

'Operation Dildo Blitz' Anti-ICE Protest in Minneapolis Ends With 50+ Arrests

https://www.commondreams.org/news/operation-dildo-blitz

‘Operation Dildo Blitz’ Anti-ICE Protest in Minneapolis Ends With 50+ Arrest

One demonstrator said they attended the phallic protest, at which people pelted federal agents’ vehicles with sex toys, “because ICE likes to bend over for Daddy Trump.”

BRETT WILKINS
Feb 08, 2026

Demonstrators hurled insults and sex toys at federal agents outside a Minneapolis government building on Saturday to protest the Trump administration’s deadly Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown on undocumented immigrants and their supporters, with state and local police arresting more than 50 people.

Dubbed “Operation Dildo Blitz,” the protest outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building saw demonstrators place sex toys in a chain link fence while others handed out rubber phalluses to protesters who threw them at passing federal and local law enforcement vehicles.

… more … video at link …
February 9, 2026

Artists lead 'ICE Out' protest inside Super Bowl LX

https://www.rawstory.com/super-bowl-2675186934/

Artists lead 'ICE Out' protest inside Super Bowl LX

Robert Davis
February 8, 2026 7:02PM ET

An artists' collective led an "ICE Out" protest inside Levi's Stadium on Sunday during Super Bowl LX.

The protest, called "Flags in the Stands," was led by California-based advocacy group Contra-ICE. Organizers said it was directed at the "inhumane treatment" of immigrants and other people swept up in President Donald Trump's deportation regime. The group distributed custom towels around the stadium as fans filed in, which featured a nod to the 2026 halftime performer, Bad Bunny, and the slogan "ICE Out."



Culture often leads politics, and moments like this show how people are using joy, creativity, and visibility to push back against ICE and demand a country that truly lives up to its promise to welcome immigrants," Conrad said.

… more …


February 7, 2026

Use of Irish airport for US deportation flights to Israel called 'reprehensible'

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/07/use-of-irish-shannon-airport-for-us-deportation-flights-to-israel-called-reprehensible

Use of Irish airport for US deportation flights to Israel called ‘reprehensible’

Irish politicians condemn use of Shannon airport by private jet en route to Israel, owned by Trump donor Gil Dezer

Geraldine McKelvie
Sat 7 Feb 2026 10.38 EST

Politicians in Ireland have said the use of an airport in County Clare by planes deporting Palestinians from the US to Israel is “reprehensible”.

A private jet owned by the Donald Trump donor Gil Dezer was chartered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for two separate flights that took detainees to Israel, a Guardian investigation revealed this week.

The flights left the US on 21 January and 1 February. Both made refuelling stops at Shannon airport in the west of Ireland.

Dezer’s family property company has built a series of Trump-branded residential towers in Miami. He recently spoke of his “love” for the US president, with whom he claims to have had a 20-year friendship.

Some of those onboard the flights on Dezer’s jet said they had their wrists and ankles shackled for the duration of the journey. After arriving in Tel Aviv, they appear to have been taken to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Irish government said in a statement that as the flights stopped in the country for “non-traffic purposes” and were “not picking up or setting down passengers” they did not require prior approval from its transport department.

However, on Friday, opposition politicians expressed concern to the Irish Times about the practice.

Duncan Smith, foreign affairs spokesperson for the Labour party in Ireland, said: “It is absolutely reprehensible that any ICE deportation flights would be allowed stop and refuel in Shannon. The taoiseach and minister for transport must intervene and ensure this ends.” He added: “Ireland cannot in any way be complicit in these ICE flights.”

… more …
February 7, 2026

Indigenous-Led Collectives Are Keeping Minnesotan Communities Safe From ICE

https://truthout.org/articles/indigenous-led-collectives-are-keeping-minnesotan-communities-safe-from-ice/

Indigenous-Led Collectives Are Keeping Minnesotan Communities Safe From ICE

Members of the American Indian Movement and the Many Shields Warrior Society are patrolling the streets of Minneapolis.

By Theia Chatelle , TRUTHOUT
Published February 7, 2026

A cozy cafe in the heart of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has become a staging ground for Indigenous-led patrols working to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) off their streets. Pow Wow Grounds, opened in 2011 by Bob Rice, has been both a gathering place for community members attempting to make sense of the scale of violence they have witnessed over the past few weeks and a place to strategize an autonomous response.

During Truthout’s visit to the cafe at the end of January, wagons full of supplies — from food and gas masks to Narcan — passed in and out of Pow Wow Grounds’ front door, which for the first time was kept locked to keep ICE agents out. The door was unlocked again and again to allow the wagons into the newly repurposed All My Relations gallery space, which is housed with Pow Wow Grounds in the Native American Community Development Institute.

“Look outside,” Rice said during an interview with Truthout in the cafe. “This is the American Indian Cultural Corridor, the heart of Native life here in Minneapolis. They come here to try to intimidate us, but we will not bow down.”

Rice’s efforts to supply the Native
community and its allies with “soup and supplies,” as he told Truthout, have been successful. Members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and of the Many Shields Warrior Society (an Indigenous community security group) have been patrolling the streets of Minneapolis’s Phillips neighborhood since the start of the occupation, and they do not plan to stop.

“We all have a place. My place is to make sure people are fed and get a cup of coffee,” Rice said.

… more …
February 7, 2026

Minneapolis City Council Delays Liquor Licenses for 2 Hotels Hosting ICE Agents

https://truthout.org/articles/minneapolis-city-council-delays-liquor-licenses-for-2-hotels-hosting-ice-agents/

Minneapolis City Council Delays Liquor Licenses for 2 Hotels Hosting ICE Agents

Residents have shared stories of abusive actions by off-duty agents at the hotels.

By Chris Walker , TRUTHOUT
Published February 6, 2026

A committee within the Minneapolis City Council has delayed the renewal of liquor licenses for two hotels in the city’s downtown area, citing concerns that agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are staying at the hotel during the Trump administration’s ongoing “Operation Metro Surge” immigration raids.

The “Committee of the Whole” (a committee that includes every member of the city council) met on Tuesday with the goal of discussing liquor license renewals for dozens of businesses throughout Minneapolis. More than 100 licenses were renewed, but renewals for the two hotels in question — Hilton Minneapolis-Mill District and The Depot Minneapolis — were stalled until the next meeting later this month, on February 17.

The vote was 8-5 in favor of delaying the renewals.

The delay does not halt liquor operations at those locations for the time being, but it does allow for more discussion on whether their licenses should be revoked. Council members in favor of the delay said their decision was based on comments they received from constituents, who have expressed concerns about ICE agents’ activities in and around the hotels, including nuisance complaints and drunk driving by off-duty agents.

… more …

(That’s correct. Hit them where it hurts.)

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